Every emblem of the Olympics tells a story. The Beijing 2008 Olympic Games
emblem "Chinese Seal, Dancing Beijing" is filled with Beijing's hospitality and
hopes, and carries the city's commitment to the world.

Milestone

"Dancing Beijing" is a milestone of the Olympics. It serves as a classic
chapter of the Olympic epic inscribed by the spirit of the Chinese nation,
calligraphed by the deeper import of the ancient civilization, and molded by the
character of Cathay's descendents. It is concise yet deep inside, bringing forth
the city's gradual changes and development. It appears dignified yet bears a
tune of romance, reflecting the nation's thoughts and emotions.

In the lead up to the Beijing 2008 Olympics, the emblem will attract more and
more people from around the world to Beijing and China to join the great
celebration with the Chinese people.

Commitment

"Dancing Beijing" is a Chinese Seal. It is engraved with commitment made to
the Olympic Movement by a country that has 56 ethnic groups and a population of
1.3 billion. While witnessing the advocacy of the Olympic Spirit by a nation
with both ancient civilization and modern culture, it also unfolds a
future-oriented city's pursuit of the Olympic Ideal.

It is a symbol of trust and an expression of self confidence, standing for
the solemn yet sacred promise that Beijing - the host city of the Beijing 2008
Olympic Games - has made to the world and to all mankind.

"Complete sincerity can affect even metal and stone (literally meaning
sincerity smoothes the way to success)." The inception of our ancestors' wisdom
and the image of a seal made of metal and stone allow the emblem to present
Chinese people's respect and honesty for the Olympics.

The moment we earnestly imprint the emblem with the "Chinese seal", Beijing
is about to show the world a grand picture of "peace, friendship, and progress
of mankind" and to strike up the passionate movement of "faster, higher, and
stronger" for mankind.

Image

"Dancing Beijing" serves as the city's foremost appearance. It is an image
that shows the eastern ways of thinking and the nation's lasting appeal embodied
in the Chinese characters. It is an expression that conveys the unique cultural
quality and elegance of Chinese civilization.

With inspiration from the traditional Chinese art form - calligraphic art,
the character "Jing" (the latter of the city's name) is developed into the form
of a dancing human being, reflecting the ideal of a "New Olympics". The words
"Beijing 2008" also resembles the vivid shapes of Chinese characters in
handwriting, voicing in concise strokes of the countless feelings Chinese people
possess towards the Olympics.

As people ponder on the rich connotations and charms of these Chinese
characters, a "New Beijing" has thus been brought forward.

Beauty

"Dancing Beijing" is a favorite color of the Chinese people. The color "red"
is intensively used in the emblem, pushing the passion up to a new level. It
carries Chinese people's longing for luck and happiness and their explanation of
life.

Red is the color of the Sun and the Holy Fire, representing life and a new
beginning. Red is mind at ease, symbol of vitality, and China's blessing and
invitation to the world.

Hero

"Dancing Beijing" calls upon heroes. Olympic Games functions as the stage
where heroes are made known, miracles created and glories earned, and where
every participant constitutes an indispensable part of the occasion.

The powerful and dynamic design of the emblem is a life poem written by all
participants with their passion, affections, and enthusiasm. It is an oath every
participant takes to contribute power and wisdom to the Olympics.

The emblem cheers for arts and for the Olympic heroes, who pass down the
essence of the Olympic Spirit, which well connects sports and cultures.

Spirit

"Dancing Beijing" extends the totem of the Chinese nation. The form of a
running human being stands for the beauty and magnificence of life. Its graceful
curves are like the body of a wriggling dragon, relating the past and future of
one same civilization; they are like rivers, carrying the century-old history
and the nation's pride; they are like veins, pulsing with vitality of life.

The intrinsic values of sports -- athlete-centered and people-oriented - are
well defined and upgraded in an artistic way in "the dance of Beijing." We sing
if words fail to explain it all, and we dance if the singing does not explicitly
tell the meaning.

Vigorous Beijing is looking forward to the celebration in 2008 and the
Olympics wait all mankind to dance together.

Invitation

"Dancing Beijing" is a kind invitation. The open arms in the emblem say that
China is opening its arms to welcome the rest of the world to join the Olympics,
a celebration of "peace, friendship and progress of mankind."

"Is it not a joy to have friends come from afar?" The idiom portrays the
feelings of friendly and hospitable Chinese people and expresses the sincerity
of the city.

Come to Beijing, take a good look at the historical heritages of China's
Capital city, and feel the pulse of the country's modernization;

Come, share every piece of its joy, and experience the vigor of the
country;

image by Juan Manuel Gabino Villascán, 8 Aug. 2008.
based on the Report of the IOC Evaluation Commission for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad in 2008

Toronto

image
by Juan Manuel Gabino Villascán, 8 Aug. 2008.
based on the Report of the IOC Evaluation Commission for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad in 2008

On EBay is an actual flag.
This one speaks only of the "Olympic Bid", thus it would have to be for an early
stage. Indeed, the flag does not have the Olympic Rings, as in the bidding
process only candidate cities are allowed to use those on their flag.Here is a shrunk, reduced and and slightly cropped photograph to give an
impression.Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 23 June 2015

Paris

image by Juan Manuel Gabino Villascán, 8 Aug. 2008.
based on the Report of the IOC Evaluation Commission for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad in 2008

Istambul

imageby Juan Manuel Gabino Villascán, 8 Aug. 2008.
based on the Report of the IOC Evaluation Commission for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad in 2008

BEIJING, 8 August) -- China welcomed the world to the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on
Friday with the roll of thunder from two thousand fou drums and a battering of fireworks across
the Chinese capital -- from the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square to the National Stadium.

Fourteen thousand performers offered the 91,000 people in the National
Stadium, popularly known as the 'Bird's Nest,' a history lesson in China's contribution
to world civilization. The spectators that packed the stadium held the first of some
seven million tickets to the 2008 Beijing Games, in which nearly 11,000 athletes will
jump, run, cycle, fight, swim, sail, ride and shoot their way to Olympic glory.

The Opening Ceremony began with a 9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 countdown in
the Beijing dusk. Then a roar of thunder came from the floor of the National Stadium
where 2,008 drummers beat line after line of fou, an ancient Chinese percussion
instrument. The drummers chanted as they struck the fou,
"Friends have come from afar, how happy we are." This phrase comes from the work
of Confucius (551 BC-479 BC), one China's most important educators and thinkers.

Then came the fireworks.

To begin, 29 huge firework displays were shot up into the air across
the four axis of the ancient capital: the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, the Temple
of Heaven, and just above the National Stadium. The impressive firework display was
intended to remind viewers of China's legacy as the civilization that invented gunpowder,
first used in China during the Song Dynasty (960-1276 AD).

As the firework footprints reached the Bird's Nest they illuminated the
Olympic Rings in the stadium bringing a resounding round of applause from the audience.

Few could see the steel wires and pulleys that carried fairies across the sky above the Olympic rings.

In the second act, children representing each of China's 56 minority groups carried the five-starred national flag across the stadium to soldiers who were waiting to hoist it onto one of two flagpoles nearby. After the flag was raised, all joined in the singing of the Chinese national anthem, 'The March of the Volunteers.'

The second flagpole awaited the Olympic flag.

The next section of the Opening Ceremony paid homage to China's contribution to the world's writing heritage. Almost 900 performers came together to create characters with their bodies.

In one act, the performers danced across a stadium-length scroll of paper, creating an ink painting in their path. Next, 100s of men inside boxes bobbed up and down to create the Chinese character 'he,' which in Chinese means both harmony and peace.

The next section mingled celebrated forms of Chinese Opera with themes brought from China's ancient Silk Road traditions in a performance of music and color.

Before the audience was able to digest the artistic presentation of China's ancient past, the second section of the performance, entitled 'Beautiful Olympics,' which underlined aspects of modern China, began.

A thousand illuminated dancers formed a dove of peace that then broke up, regrouping to form of human-web that replicated the lattice structure of the 'Bird's Nest.'

The processional section of the ceremony began with a shattering display of shadow boxing martial arts and magnificent images of man and nature.

By tradition, the Greek Athletes led the 204 competing National Olympic
Committees (NOC) teams into the stadium in a marching order dictated by the order
of strokes in each country's Chinese name.

The Chinese delegation was the last to enter the stadium.
Chinese flag bearer Yao Ming, accompanied by Ling Hao, a 9-year-old survivor
from the Sichuan earthquake, led the Chinese delegation into the stadium.

Each athlete walked over a paper scroll on the floor of the
stadium, leaving their footprints on what then became the Protocol Platform
for the Olympic speeches. Clapping dancers and cheering athletes greeted the
entry of the five-ringed Olympic Flag, as children sang the Olympic anthem and
fireworks sparkled in the sky.

Liu Qi, President of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the
Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG), welcomed the athletes. "Hosting an Olympic Games
has been a century-old dream for the Chinese nation," he said. Adding,
"A prime mission of the Beijing Olympic Games is to enhance cultural
exchanges between peoples throughout the world."

IOC President Jacques Rogge added his welcome, telling
China that the world was grieving with China and the millions who lost family
members or were displaced in the tragic earthquake in China's Sichuan province.
"We were moved by the great courage and solidarity of the Chinese people,"
he said. "As one dream, may these Olympic Games bring you joy, hope, and pride."

Then China's President Hu Jintao formally declared the
opening of the Games.

Women's table tennis player Zhang Yining then read the Athletes'
Oath on behalf of all competitors.

Then, the moment that more than 91,000 audience members and
billions more around the world had been waiting for arrived - the Olympic Torch
appeared-- carried around the arena by eight torchbearers.

The 7th bearer, champion Volleyball player Sun Jinfang,
passed the flame to legendary Chinese gymnast Li Ning, who was hoisted high
into the air to "run" along the roof's edge. When he reached the cauldron
that had unfurled during the athlete's march through the stadium,
a burst of flame lit up the sky.

The Ceremony ended with another magnificent
fireworks display staged by a total of 600 engineers from hundreds
of locations around the city, some as far away as the Great Wall of China.

Opening on 8th day of the 8th month of 2008, the 18-day-long Olympic
Games will take place in 37 different venues, and will award a grand total of 302
Olympic medals to the winning athletes.

The 2008 Olympic Games were launched at a dazzling ceremony in Beijing, as athletes from more than
200 countries gathered in the Bird's Nest stadium.

Drums, a light show and pyrotechnics began the four-hour ceremony - 29 sets of fireworks,
representing each edition of the modern Games, lit up Beijing.

Mark Foster led the British contingent into the arena, and 7ft 6in basketball star Yao Ming carried
the Chinese flag.

Li Ning, 1984 gold medallist, lit the Olympic cauldron to close the ceremony.

Li, who won three gymnastics gold medals in Los Angeles, was hoisted to the roof of the stadium by wires.
He completed a lap of the arena, suspended in mid-air, before igniting a jet of flame to light the torch tower.

Hu Jintao, the Chinese president, declared the Games open in front of an audience of more than 80 world leaders and royals, including US President George W. Bush and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

Jacques Rogge, President of the International Olympic Committee,
congratulated the people of Beijing in his opening speech.

"For a long time, China has dreamed of opening its doors and inviting
the world's athletes to Beijing," he said.

"Tonight that dream comes true. May these Olympic Games bring you joy, hope and pride."

Rogge called on athletes at the Games to "reject doping and cheating" and Chinese
table tennis star Zhang Yining took the athletes' oath on behalf of the assembled competitors.

The initial firework display followed a countdown initiated by exactly 2,008
percussionists using illuminated drums.

Giant, illuminated Olympic rings and enormous pillars rose up from the floor of the stadium, followed by a piano duet performed by a five-year-old girl and famed Chinese pianist, Lang Lang.

In keeping with tradition, Greece - Olympic founders and hosts of the first
modern Games - led the 204 competing nations into the arena.

12:10 p.m. ET:
Well, the potential Greatest Olympics Of All Time are off to a fine start.
The opening ceremony clocked in at just over four hours, but went off pretty much without a hitch,
with some dazzling theatrics to boot. Here's hoping we're in for more of the same over the next 16 days.
Let the Games begin!

12:04 p.m. ET:
Li lights the cauldron, which peeks over the top of the stadium.
We're then treated to, and I'll try not to overstate this,
the greatest fireworks display in the history of the world.
It looks like they're setting them off from all over the Olympic Green.

12:01 p.m. ET: Li takes the torch and is promptly hoisted
by cable to the top of the stadium, drawing gasps from the packed house.
Now they've got the cable moving horizontally across the lip of the stadium,
in front of an animated backdrop of an unrolling scroll. As Li moves right-to-left,
a collage of video from the torch run appears behind him. Fireworks have nothing on this.

11:54 a.m. ET: The Olympic flame has entered the building.
Rumour has it that legendary Chinese gymnast Li Ning will be the one to light the cauldron.

11:49 a.m. ET: Zhang Yinting takes the athletes' oath.
Isn't the part about promising not to engage in doping so quaint?

11:36 a.m. ET: The Games are officially open, as per the pronouncement
of People's Republic of China President Hu Jintao. Well done, sir. And thank you for touching
off more fireworks. Save some, though: we're going to cruise past the four-hour mark, easy.

11:27 a.m. ET: With the parade of nations (finally) over, it's
speech time. First we get the head of the Beijing organizing committee, with IOC boss
Jacques Rogge on deck. Fireworks, we need you now more than ever.

11:08 a.m. ET: It's the team we've all been waiting for: China,
led by NBA giant Yao Ming. He's joined by a young boy (looks to be maybe 10 years
old or so, but since he's standing next to the 7-foot-6 Yao he could be a
full-grown man for all I know) who rescued two of his schoolmates during the Sichuan earthquake.

11:03 a.m. ET: Germany enters, led by flag bearer Dirk
Nowitzki of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks. That's not going to help you unseat Mexico.

11:02 a.m. ET: And a new leader emerges in the Best-Looking Team contest: Mexico.

10:40 a.m. ET: No way they're bringing this thing home in
anything resembling three hours. The parade is still parading. I'm starting to
get that dentist's-waiting-room feeling.

10:27 a.m. ET: The U.S. team marches in led by middle-distance
runner Lopez Lomong, who came to America as a refugee from Sudan. President Bush is
on hand to welcome the squad with his usual hearty wave. For the record,
Prime Minister Harper is not here, having elected to send Foreign Affairs Minister
David Emerson in his stead.

10:15 a.m. ET: We have contact! Ron just got hold of field
hockey player Mike Mahood and shooter Avianna Chao. Neil Armstrong thinks the
reception was a little muddled, but nice to hear from the guys and gals on the floor.

10:11 a.m. ET: Seems we're getting a few complaints about
the commercial breaks, but I'm kind of enjoying them. We're seeing a lot of
brand-new Olympic-themed ads that are pretty good. It's like a poor man's
Super Bowl. Plus, how else is the CBC to raise the money to meet my outlandish
salary demands?

9:59 a.m. ET: Ron is trying to make contact with a member of
the Canadian team via cell phone on the stadium floor. Anyone who's tried to call
someone at a rock concert can guess how this ends.

9:45 a.m. ET: Team Canada enters the stadium led by Oakville,
Ont.'s Adam van Koeverden, who's not merely bearing the flag but waving it
with vigour. Great pick for the job, by the way: I really liked the way he carried
himself at the press conference announcing him as Canada's flag bearer. He's a
very confident guy with a pretty good sense of humour, and it was fun watching
him take playful pokes at the more earnest of the media throng. Plus, he's
about as near a gold-medal lock as we've got with his dominance in the
500-metre kayak singles. He should hit the podium in the 1,000 as well.

9:38 a.m. ET: Runaway leader so far in the Best Flag contest:
Barbados and its blue-gold-blue pattern with a trident in the middle. Reminiscent
of the old Seattle Mariners logo.

9:29 a.m. ET: I stand corrected. Ron MacLean, displaying once
again why he was picked over me to go to Beijing, informs us that there's actually
no such thing as a Chinese alphabet. Show-off.

9:22 a.m. ET: In case you're wondering, Canada will be the 63rd
country to march into the stadium, after Ghana and right before Gabon. Wait, they
know we're not Grenada, right? See Bernice's blog for an explanation (the
short answer is, of course, that they're going by the Chinese alphabet).

9:10 a.m. ET: The parade of nations is underway, led,
as always, by Greece. In all, 204 countries will take part. It would have been 205,
but Brunei was booted today after its national Olympic committee failed to register the
country's two athletes by the required deadline. Can't wait to hear the official
explanation for that one. What, was the Olympic committee tied up with something
more important than signing up its athletes for the Olympics?

8:57 a.m. ET: Hundreds of guys in white outfits perform a
finely choreographed tai chi routine. Wow, that was much more impressive then
the solo tai chi routine performed every afternoon at the park near my apartment
by that shady unemployed guy.

8:46 a.m. ET: China's top-ranked pianist performs amid a seas
of guys wearing neon outfits covered in tiny light bulbs. Viewed from above, the
lights form the shape of a bird in flight. Then they move to form the shape of the
National Stadium, aka the "Bird's Nest." Smooth.

8:29 a.m. ET: My long-term memory being what it is, I'm not
100 per cent sure on this, but I don't remember seeing TV ads during the opening
ceremonies of the past. I'll just say this: it's a good thing I didn't miss that
paper-making segment, or I'd be plenty upset. I'll also say this: you can catch the
entire opening ceremony commercial-free via CBCSports.ca's live stream (good, now that
I've made that shameless plug, my boss can stop sending intermittent electrical
currents through my spinal column).

8:21 a.m. ET: We're onto the story of China's great technological
innovations over time. First it was gunpowder, then paper making, then the movable-type
printer. It's not that I'm not enthralled, but Get to the fireworks! We need more fireworks.

8:14 a.m. ET: The Chinese national anthem (who knew it was so bouncy?)
is followed by the second short fireworks display of the show. If you're scoring at home, I
think we're down to 28,500 fireworks.

8:10 a.m. ET: A little overview of what we'll see today: Besides the parade of
nations and the lighting of the Olympic cauldron, famed film director Zhang Yimou
(House of Flying Daggers ) has been charged with the simple task of distilling
5,000 years of Chinese history into about an hour. Oh, and 29,000 fireworks will be set
off at various sites around Beijing. Apparently the hosts are taking a nuanced, understated
approach to this year's ceremony.

8 a.m. ET: With the festivities set to begin, now seems like a good time to clarify
that I'm not in Beijing. Rather, like much of the CBC's hardworking crew, I'm bunkered down in the
friendly confines of our Toronto broadcast centre. Word has it that it came down to a decision over
whom to send to Beijing: me or Ron MacLean. An agonizing call, I've been told. But if you'd like
to read a blog actually written from Beijing, our own Bernice Chan is on the scene doing her
typically fine work. Just click on the link on the right-hand side of the page. I won't be mad.